Wednesday, April 6, 2016

On a recent local radio show, the guest host and a local political activist had a conversation about Donald Trump being a fascist and an insider, but they didn’t define their terms.

Benito Mussolini, whom they mentioned in passing, explained that fascism is the merger of big government with big business and could be called "corporatism."

One of the presidential candidates does support corporatism, which is embodied by the North American Free Trade Agreement — NAFTA — and the Trans-Pacific Partnership — TPP. But that candidate is Hillary Clinton, not Donald Trump. Trump has denounced NAFTA and the TPP, which are the embodiment of New World Order corporatism. That makes him an anti-fascist. Hillary is a consummate Washington insider; Trump is not. The radio host and guest got it backward.

The American people have yet to awaken to what the TPP would mean for the USA. It poses the greatest threat to the integrity of the republic in our history, where a board of corporate attorneys could override the laws and statutes of any of the nations encompassed by the agreement, including the United States Constitution.

Trump's style lends itself to criticism and ridicule. Brash and outspoken, he seems to be the antithesis of an American politician, largely because he isn't one. Hillary comes across as the adult in the race, but there are some disturbing aspects to her history and past performance that are worth taking into account:

* Hillary has supported NAFTA and the World Trade Organization, which were introduced by her husband, Bill, but have had devastating effects on our economy.

* While she now claims she no longer supports it, in the past Hillary has described the TPP as "the gold standard" of trade agreements.

* As secretary of State, she was the motivating force behind NATO's attack on Libya, which has turned that society to chaos.

* She has facilitated her husband’s sexual abuse of other women by going after them to protect him from the consequences of his actions.

* Experts have observed that her casual use of emails represents a far more serious violation of national security than the public appreciates.

* Hillary has long stood with other neo-cons in the administration and appears to be far more hawkish than Trump (though not as bad as Ted Cruz).

Those who are looking beneath the blizzard of attacks on Donald Trump know that the reality is actually very different than the illusion:

* He is opposed to NAFTA and the TPP. Where the former gutted our manufacturing and industrial base, the latter would finish it off.

* He has condemned the invasion of Iraq and wars in the Middle East, which have cost us $4-$5 trillion and produced only chaos.

* He has proposed measures to bring immigration under control, including a temporary ban on Muslims and a better fence with Mexico.

* He is galvanizing interest across the board, drawing independents and blue-collar Democrats to the GOP for the first time since Reagan.

* He is a nationalist and a populist, who wants to improve the lives of working men and women, and qualifies as a non-interventionist.

* The establishment on both sides is alarmed, because Trump is not under their control. He is self-financing and beholden to none.

The demonization of Trump has been designed to distract the attention of the public from the major changes he would bring about. A financial expert has reported that the transformation he represents would be on the order of the New Deal brought to America by FDR. It would be historic and profound.

There are no flawless candidates in this race for president of the United States. Far too many liberals and progressives regard Hillary as unblemished and Trump as a fascist who would introduce an American Fourth Reich. Those are illusions, not reality. We need to know our candidates’ strengths as well as their weaknesses.

Jim Fetzer, a retired professor of philosophy and former Marine Corps officer, has published dozens of books and hundreds of articles. He lives in Oregon, Wisconsin.